Women's football team earns first World Cup slot
The Philippine women's football team on Monday booked a ticket to the FIFA Women's World Cup by outlasting Chinese Taipei in a cliffhanger penalty shootout in the quarterfinal round of the Women's Asian Cup in India.
No Philippine football team, men or women, had made it to football's most prestigious tournament.
The Filipinas, ranked 64th in the world, were on the attack early in the match, but the 39th-ranked Taiwanese stood their ground.
At the 49th minute, the Philippine team finally cracked Taiwan's defense, as Quinley Quindoza delivered the first goal of the match from inside the box off an assist by Katrina Gillou.
The Philippine advantage disappeared when Zhuo Li-Ping converted a fantastic arcing shot from way outside the box to equalize the game at the 82nd minute.
Neither team was able to score during the remainder of regulation time and the extra 30-minute period, setting the stage for the shootout.
The score remained tied after the first two penalty kicks as Ting Chi and Wang Hsiang-huei scored for Chinese-Taipei and Sara Castañeda and Tahnai Annis connected for the Philippines.
Ying-Hui Chen pushed Chinese Taipei ahead 3-2 when she scored on her penalty try.
Things looked bleak for the Philippine side when Jessica Miclat's kick was saved by Cheng Ssu-Yu.
Yi-Yun Hsu's kick then bounced off the left post, but the Philippines failed to equalize after captain Hali Long fumbled her attempt.
Despite the tremendous pressure, Philippine goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel thwarted Sin-Yun Su's fifth kick, which would have given the Taiwanese a 4-2 edge.
McDaniel then sent the ball swooshing past Cheng to even the score at 3-3. Read More…
